Steve Stred's Blog, page 13

Book Review: I Think I’m Alone Now by Ali Seay

Title: I Think I’m Alone Now

Author: Ali Seay

Release date: May 10th, 2024

*Huge thank you to Ali for sending me a digital ARC of this one!*

Man, I’m ashamed to say this is my first real read of Ali’s. I say first ‘real’ read, because up until now, the only thing it turns out that I’ve read of hers was her short story that appeared in the ‘Found’ anthology, and I vividly remember that one. Andrew Cull had asked if I could help read submissions for that one and recommend my top twenty of the eighty stories he sent my way, and Ali’s was easily in the top five.

But it wasn’t until she sent this one to me and I looked through her bibliography on Goodreads that I discovered that I’d not read a stand alone release of hers – but having now read this one, I’ll absolutely be making up for that.

I wasn’t sure what I’d be getting into with this one. Going in, I knew very little. Set in the 80’s – check. Teen girl – check. Creepy/odd neighbor – check. The story involving a possession element – check. And that was it. So, jumping in, I was pretty wide open for what I’d experience and boy, did this one deliver a wallop.

What I liked: The story follows teen girl, Doris – DORIE! Sheesh! – who lives with her mom. About a year ago, while home alone, some men broke into their home and she hid in the closet, only to be found. Fortunately, things didn’t progress beyond being tormented, but that hasn’t prevented trauma from taking hold. On top of that, her mom’s most recent guy friend has taken off and her older brother – whom she loves to the moon and back – has decided to move out, leaving her feeling alone and forgotten about.

She’s got a solid friend group and life is going tentatively ok. Like, lukewarm ok. Then one day, she notices her neighbor – Mr. Frank – watching her. They’ve always been afraid of him, no kid willing to even go and retrieve their errantly kicked ball in his yard.

From here, Seay unravels a phenomenally paced possession story. We get Mr. Frank’s back story, subtle (at first) changes in Dorie, before the thing that’s taken hold fully controls her and horrible things happen. Trigger warning for sure about animal harm and death for those who need it. We get some well played moments of revenge, some truly uncomfortable moments between friends and finally, Mr. Frank reveals who he really is and Seay ramps up the demonic presence within Dorie.

I think, now that I’ve let this sit for a day since finishing, that the true strength within this book is Seay’s slow-rustling of the demonic within Doris. It was intrinsic subtle at first. Barely perceptible that the reader could even contribute to trauma response or even a hormonal attribute based on her age and situation in life. But, as things progress, and we see the inner battle take place while the outer battle rages, Seay masterfully controls the double-sided narrative and gives us an epic novel’s worth of storytelling within a novella length page count.

Now, I will add, the majority of this takes place in the 80’s, but we also get some glimpses of Doris in the future, working with kids in Church groups. This played really well, especially when she recognizes the telltale signs of possession in one of the little ones she’s crafting with.

What I didn’t like: So, I did mention we get a quick snippet of revenge within, and while the scene itself was really fun and well executed, I think on a whole, it almost felt a bit too convenient. Part of this is due to the novella length (and any of us who’ve written novellas will know this happens from time to time), but I was hoping it would’ve set up a bit more of a revenge angle or subplot, but ultimately it didn’t, leaving that moment to linger and not be utilized emotionally like it could’ve been.

Why you should buy this: This novella was fantastic. From start to finish, I was gripped and racing through to see who Mr. Frank was, what Doris was dealing with and how the two of them were going to interact. Seay sets this up with a heavy air of ‘inappropriate’ and deftly sneaks away from that to deliver one of the most engaging possession stories I’ve ever read. From the time period this was set in, to the main character, to the antagonist and the climatic ending, this was perfectly played and just a truly phenomenal experience.

5/5

Book Review: Shadow of the Hidden by Kev Harrison

Title: Shadow of the Hidden

Author: Kev Harrison

Release date: March 19th, 2024

*Huge thank you to Kev Harrison, Brigids Gate Press and Netgalley for this digital ARC!*

Between his novellas, ‘The Balance,’ ‘Warding,’ ‘Below’ and ‘Curfew,’ Kev Harrison has demonstrated time and time again that he has a firm pulse on how to craft creepy, unnerving and anxiety-inducing fiction. In each one of those releases – along with numerous other short stories and longer pieces – Kev has infused his fiction with a deft European-influence. I don’t know if that’s the correct phrase I want to use here, but Kev isn’t from America, nor do we get the bread and butter/standard American-ized fiction feel when you read any of his stories. There’s a dampness in each paragraph. A darkness that seems to sit just below the surface, such that each time you turn the page you expect to be cursed or have a cobble stone thrown at you.

So, it was, with that in mind that I dove into his novel, ‘Shadow of the Hidden.’ A story that promised to be filled with blackness impenetrable.

What I liked: The story follows Seb, who, on his last day of work in Turkey, watches as a strange woman proceeds to yell at his friend Oz. We quickly learn that the woman has cursed Oz and his family and while Oz is frightened to his core, Seb shrugs it off, not believing in such ridiculousness.

Upon returning home in London, Oz calls and Seb learns that maybe there is more to this so-called ‘curse.’ Livestock killed. Strange happenings. And as being a loyal friend, he agrees to help Oz fine a way to lift this curse.

From here we fall into a Dan Brown-esque chase (in a good way!) where clues are scattered and Seb, Oz and soon a Professor all seek them out and try to find a way to stop the curse and save Oz and his family.

Seb is a great main character and it was frankly refreshing to see him get the short end of the stick a few times for being a white male, where in some of the locations events take place, he’s looked upon with disgust and suspicion. The locations themselves play a prominent role and I would’ve loved to have seen an index in the back sharing where each place did take place so I could go Google Maps them and feel even more sad under my nails and sun on my face.

The story is told in a rapid pace, and reminded me in a few places of Andrew Pyper’s ‘The Demonologist’ and if you know me at all, you’ll know I say that with the highest of praise.

The ending is swift and startling but absolutely leaves the door open for me, which even Kev alludes to in his notes at the back.

What I didn’t like: Keeping this spoiler free – not enough moments with actual protagonist. Its mentioned over and over, but very rarely do we actually see and interact with it and the moments that we do, are far too brief.

As well, a character meets their ending and in theory that should’ve just ended everything there, but Seb continues on and I was actually confused as to why he did, as theoretically the threat should’ve ended there.

Why you should buy this: This was essentially a Indiana Jones and the Cursed Friend. We get some really engaging, fast-paced moments and characters you want to root for and cheer for. I had a blast with this one from start to finish and it really shows Kev’s level of detail that no matter where this story went, I was firmly involved and actively engaged.

5/5

Book Review: Here Comes the Sun by Justin M. Woodward

Title: Here Comes the Sun

Author: Justin M. Woodward

Release date: February 13th, 2024

Man, have you read Justin M. Woodward?

When I started out almost a decade ago, Justin and I connected and there’s very few folks who’ve been kinder to me in the writing world than he has been. Safe to say, after a few years away due to some family loss and mental health struggles, it filled my heart so much when this one was officially announced and officially released. It had been hinted at for some time, and in Justin’s afterword, we see that this one was finished almost three years ago.

Not only does Justin’s work hold a special place in my heart – go read ‘The Variant,’ ‘Rotten Little Things,’ or the classic masterpiece, ‘Tamer Animals’ – but to see that his new release was going to be a Splatter-Western had me chomping at the bit to get into this one and hooooooo boy, does this one snarl and bite.

What I liked: The story takes place in small town called Fort Whipple. We don’t have any confirmation, but based on the details, this one takes place sometime in the 1800’s or so, when cowboys and six-shooters ruled the land. There’s been a rumbling that a monster has arrived. We see livestock drained of blood and people get picked off one by one, a strange voice invading their minds before a leathery-winged beast rips them apart.

Woodward commands the words on each page like a veteran writer, getting us dirty and bloody within the first few pages, before pulling back and shading in the finer details. The characters are solid, centered around the town and what’s going on and it’s the little quips and back banter thrown in – looking at you Sheriff (‘now he wants to do his job!’) – really highlight the reality of how stressed and nervous the residents are.

The introduction of a wandering stranger, a black man now free, who is bound by strange rules from a strange thing called The Order, seems to escalate both the attacks, but also the rawness the community feels. This man becomes an easy target, but as we learn the truth and rush headfirst into a truly heartbreaking finale, Woodward has us on edge, not letting any of us know just what might happen.

The ending hits FUCKING hard. I had to re-read the final paragraph a few times, and I don’t know if Justin channeled some of his own grief within that moment, but JFC do those words stab you right in the soul.

What I didn’t like: For a Splatter-Western this one was a bit Splatter-Lite. I think it fit in well with how Justin tells the story, but if you’re looking for extreme carnage and brutal descriptions, this one tended to fade to black more often than bathed in blood.

Why you should buy this: Well, longtime fans of Woodward should’ve already snagged this and hopefully devoured it. If you’ve never read any of Justin’s phenomenal work, this is an excellent place to start and if you love the Splatter-Western-Horror releases, this one is one of the best that I’ve read yet, and that’s saying something when you consider the high quality of releases we’ve already seen.

Easy 5/5.

Welcome back, Justin. You’ve been missed buddy.

Book Review: Mouth by Joshua Hull

Title: Mouth

Author: Joshua Hull

Release date: March 15th, 2024

*Huge thanks to Tenebrous Press for the digital ARC!**

Over the last number of years, I’ve come to expect brilliantly written books from Tenebrous with fairly insane concepts. Look at ‘House of Rot,’ ‘The Black Lord,’ and ‘One Hand to Hold One Hand to Carve,’ just to name a few.

When ‘Mouth’ was announced, I was immediately intrigued by one specific phrase – “…drifter Rusty finds himself the caretaker of a massive, tooth-filled mouth in the ground…and it’s hungry.”

WHHHHAAAAAATTT.

Sign me up! I love books centered around strangeness in woods, and this one looked to be a perfect fit of that bill!

What I liked: On it’s surface, ‘Mouth’ seems like a very simple, straight-forward story. Rusty is living his life on the road, struggling to connect anywhere, but also not wanting to connect or set down roots. Then, randomly, he meets a stranger at a shop, they have a meal together and to his surprise, this man, gives him his property. He’s tired and wants to move on. Only caveat, is Rusty needs to take care (and feed) Mouth. At first, Rusty things Mouth must be a dog, but soon, he discovers that Mouth is not a dog, but a giant, massive, tooth-filled hole in the ground that loves mice and can somehow communicate with Rusty.

From there, Hull delivers a multi-layered story of friendship, connection, relationships and coming together to get vengeance on those who deserve it. We get Abigail, a nineteen-year-old horror fanatic who has been on the run since her abusive step dad went too far. We see her and Rusty connect as well as how her, Rusty and Mouth form one of the most surprising trio’s of friends you’ll ever come across.

The POV chapters from Mouth were really amazing. What could’ve been corny, Hull deftly used to show how this sentient ‘thing’ comes to understand who Rusty and Abigail are and that they’re all there together, to help each other and take away each other’s pain.

The ending offers up a poignant take on these three companions, but also that Abigail may work towards showing the wider world that appearances can often mask the true nature of one’s heart and it’s that powerful metaphor that weaves its way throughout this novella that stood head and shoulders above everything else.

What I didn’t like: I personally LOVE novellas. Love writing them and love reading them, but in this case, I really do wish we got a smidgeon more in terms of story length, purely to learn a bit more about Mouth’s evolution. Abigail mentions it very briefly when comparing videos of Mouth, but I’d have loved to learn a bit more about the ‘why,’ but sometimes filling in those dots can make it all that more powerful.

Why you should buy this: Another home run for Tenebrous, this reminded me of the awe and the intrigue I felt while reading Andrew J. Stone’s amazing ‘All Hail the House Gods.’ You’ll instantly connect with Rusty, Abigail and you’ll desperately want to experience more and more story with Mouth.

Hull’s writing was propulsive, the story phenomenal and overall, this seemingly simple read was anything but. Stunning.

5/5

Book Review: William by Mason Coile

Title: William

Author: Mason Coile

Release date: September 12th, 2024

*Huge thank you to Andrew Pyper, Edelweiss and G.P Putnam’s Sons for the digital ARC of this one!*

Way back in May, of the year 2023, I trekked out to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, home of the Blue Jays, the Maple Leafs, the Hockey Hall of Fame and my favorite author, Andrew Pyper.

I went there to ‘host’ the 10th anniversary celebration of Andrew’s classic novel, ‘The Demonologist.’ I use the term host loosely, because all I really did was get Andrew to agree to show up and convince Little Ghosts bookstore to let us have it there. I stammered through a maybe two minute speech about how much I love Andrew’s books (it was actually much longer on my phone, but I decided to skip over a bunch of stuff because EVERYBODY was looking at me!!), and then Andrew read from the novel, answered a few questions and signed some books. And then we walked to a local pub and celebrated.

It was all an elaborate excuse to finally and officially meet Andrew in person. If you’re one of the five to ten people in the book world that doesn’t know that I’m a huge fan of Andrew’s, well hello! Otherwise, you’ll know – I’M A HUGE FAN OF ANDREW’S! (And not just because I’m a large individual!)

Now, while out there, I was actually able to hang out with Andrew several times outside of the event, which was AMAZING. And, as a huge Pyper fan, I took the opportunity while we rode the subway, to ask him about what his next novel would be.

And to my utter surprise, he told me. He shared that he was releasing a novel under a pseudonym, that it was with one of his dream publishers and that it focused around an Artificial Intelligence narrative. I was in shock and, other than telling my wife about six times on the phone when I called her while out there, and another three or four dozen times when I was back at home, I told nobody. My lips were sealed and I hadn’t even signed an NDA! I kept my yap shut until the day that Andrew finally, officially announced that his pseudonym was Mason Coile and ‘William’ would be releasing in 2024. Originally announced with a placeholder title, ‘Daemon,’ I couldn’t wait to read this. When the day finally came that the book was available for request through Netgalley and Edelweiss, I jumped on it, hoping to be approved. And, amazingly I was – over at Edelweiss. Netgalley is US only unfortunately. (Side note, I’ve only been approved for three books total over at Edelweiss (close to 100 on Netgalley now) and two of the three have been Andrew’s books – The Residence and now, William).

Having now read, ‘William,’ (twice actually) I’m left in awe at the magnificent novel Andrew’s created, that asks some heavy questions while doing its best to have its main character navigate the minefield of what the future looks like, while also driving an emotional dagger into the reader several times over.

Much like the 2014 movie, ‘Ex Machina,’ and even Spielberg’s 2001 movie, ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence,’ Pyper, as Coile, crafts a novel that is written as though it is sci-fi, while firmly rooting the heart of the story within the horror genre.

As the initial teasers were released, Andrew frequently remarked, ‘to say more would give away some of the twists and turns,’ and frankly, I completely understand that, which will make writing this review that much harder.

What I liked: I’m going to go into this one pretty in depth for two reasons, one – I have a lot of observations. Two – I’m working on something else and this will be utilized for that in the future!

So, to start with, let’s look at this novel purely as a fiction novel. The story follows Henry, a brilliant robotics engineer who has developed a severe cause of agoraphobia, which prevents him from leaving the family home. This affliction is so bad, that every time he even thinks of stepping foot outside, he begins to sweat, panic and his pulse quicken. He’s built a lab on the third floor of their home, where he tinkers away each day, working on whatever it is he’s working on. His wife, Lily, herself a well respected business woman, has sold her most recent start up, which those funds are often used to advance Henry’s experiments. Lily is also pregnant, her first child on the way and as such, Henry is pushing himself to become a better person and to somehow overcome his affliction.

This is the basis and things, on the surface at least, seem to be solid. That is, until two of Lily’s former colleagues come for a visit. Paige and Davis. They meet Henry for the first time, and while over for lunch, Henry introduces them to his greatest creation, William, an AI ‘program’ within an unfinished body. As this is a thriller/sci-fi/horror novel, things go wrong quick and William becomes unhinged. Soon, it’s a fight for survival as they desperately try to flee from the home.

The tension throughout this story was top notch and the storytelling itself was incredibly cerebral. It’s an interesting thing to see Andrew channel another level of crafting a tale, and I often wondered if -releasing this under a pseudonym – allowed him to break free from some of the Pyper shackles and just go for it. Pyper himself is a brand, a thirty year brand of literary/horror thrillers, with smart storytelling and engaging prose. The prose here is immediately identifiable and if I’d not known Coile was Pyper, I still would’ve picked this out as an Andrew book. The voice is the voice is the voice. (And we get a few trademarks within – the appearance/use of the word ghoul being a major one.) But we’ve seen some pushing towards this novel throughout some of Andrew’s own work in the past. The Homecoming (mild-spoiler alert) has very hard sci-fi leanings in the last quarter. Oracle and Oracle 2 have technological themes running throughout them. And even if we go way back to The Trade Mission, we see the tech start up team who’ve developed Hypothesys a virtual reality device involved with morality. Andrew’s dipped his toes into the sci-fi world before, but not to this degree, which I think is partly the Coile development.

Now, we’ve also already been made away of a sequel to this one, ‘Exiles,’ which has a 2025 release date and is set further in the future, but also on Mars. That news does two things. The first, is that you already know there will be a ‘soft ending,’ an ending that does close this book, but obviously leaves the door wide open for the next. Saying that, the ending here is spot on, incredibly unnerving and knowing this tech that Andrew has developed within the book is now out in the wider world, you’ll end this one with an entire body shiver. The second is that it’ll have your brain frantically trying to figure out how we go from here to there. I know I’ve already been trying to determine this leap from earth to Mars and from the end of this novel to the start of that one, so I personally can’t wait to see where it goes.

Lily, Henry and William made for a great trio of characters. The interactions between the three as well as the way the house becomes part of the equation (another Pyper trait, but instead of the outside environment being a character, the house becomes one, much like The Homecoming again), and more unsettling, the technology becomes a central aspect to the unravelling we experience.

Now, let’s examine this novel from the viewpoint that it’s not just fiction, but one 240 page metaphor. Huh? That’s right. From the early pages to the very end, this one quickly became apparent that this was not just a novel. That this was Andrew masking a very real look at a very real time through the lens of fiction.

I may end up being off base with a few things here, and I’ve actually already asked Andrew about a couple pieces to confirm I was on the right track, but let’s break things down here and to begin with, let’s look at Henry and his agoraphobia and lab.

Over the last however many years, starting in May of 2020, Canada was gripped within the Covid pandemic and not too long after, the stay at home rules were put in place, as well with masking and vaccines etc. etc. From 1999 until then, Andrew had already been a fulltime author and as such, his ‘work place’ wasn’t effected the same way others would’ve been, by having to either be laid off or then switching to work from home. When the pandemic hit, in Andrew’s case, his world would’ve shrunk even more, much like Henry’s shrunk. Outside meant sick people, potential illness and even death. When we couple this with the lab/writing office, we see that connection even more. Andrew on the third floor of his house, puttering away at his latest WIP. Henry on the third floor of his house, puttering away at his latest experiment. And when then slot that into Andrew’s life even more – I assume what he does up there is relatively unknown to his wife. I’ll also assume he’ll have conversation with his wife about what he is working on, as many writers do with their significant others, but we see that same connection between Lily and Henry. Lily ordering parts or tracking down whatever it is that Henry needs plays that metaphorical role of Andrew coming to a roadblock and hashing it out with his wife to get her opinion.

I’ll even go one step further and posit that Paige and Davis are representations of Andrew’s own kids, in that as they grow older, the parent sees them less. Paige and Davis arrive to have lunch with them, but it has been a bit since they’ve even seen Lily. Much the same as when busy teenage kids are doing their activities, hanging with friends and then voila, suddenly the entire family is home at the same time and they all can enjoy a meal. And if I’m really connecting these dots like this, we even have the Pyper family dog appear, even though in this case, Mooney is a mechanical creation from Henry, one with whirling ears and a penchant to tag along with Henry.

Now, let’s examine some of Henry’s philosophical statements. Throughout, I got the distinct impression that William represented the wider writing world. This always morphing, always slightly depressing/evil entity that is publishing and writing. Henry has created William, much as Andrew has created his career. Often, Henry questions how he fits in the world, how can he be more connected, a better version of himself and even a better husband and father. Doesn’t that sound like Andrew philosophizing about how he can be a better writer, and father and dad? But also, it frequently poked at the question that I’ve often pushed on all my social media posts about Andrew’s work – why not Andrew? Why isn’t his work even bigger? Why don’t we have five or six movies from his work out already? There’s always variables, always starts and stops, and always a wiggling, worm like ebb and flow for every book release, but to me, this novel seems very introspective, very honest, open and at times, significantly heartbreaking when taken as a metaphor.

Throughout, Henry questions his place in the world and each time he did my heart broke for both Henry and for Andrew. Taken as just a novel, Henry is very Frankenstein’s monster-esque character. A character built of his own construct begging to know why he’s got this brilliant mind but how come the outside world doesn’t let him share it. Taken as a meta piece of fiction, we see Andrew, as Henry, pondering the question of what will it take for his novels to launch into the stratosphere, when time and time again, we see it happen elsewhere. When we see an individual take off and then fall into a pattern of releasing the same novel over and over to critical acclaim, awards and massive sales.

As Andrew’s potential biggest fan (definitely most frequent poster of Andrew’s work!), I’ve often wondered the same thing, and seeing this introspection is both powerful, but also tear-inducing.

I know I’ll be forgetting something to discuss here, but I’ll close this section with a look at the technological side of things. Throughout, AI is prevalent , as is the use of technology. The doors within the house open and close on command. The home itself is hardwired with different little bits of tech and we also see Lily wearing special glasses that have a digital screen within the lenses – much like the ridiculous new Apple Visor things – that Henry notes can make for some odd moments when he thinks she’s blinking at him, but she’s flipping through screens.

Pyper tackles the explosion of technology in two distinct parts. The first half of the novel showcases the excitement of technology. Look what Henry’s created! How wonderful! Look what this house can do! How cool! Look at these glasses! Amazing! And look at William! What a creation! Then, the second half tackles the downside and the over-reliance of technology. It is as though Andrew’s channeled the great Rogers cellphone outage incident we had here in Canada. Where it became apparent just how crippling such an outage can be, where every phone is out, the banks are down, the internet is inaccessible, emergency services are unavailable and Rogers replied with a statement that basically read, ‘Hey sorry about that! We’re not sure why it happened. We can’t promise it won’t happen again! But here’s 50 cents off your next bill for compensation over what happened.’ We see that as William takes hold and decides that in order to truly experience what it means to be alive, Lily, Henry, Paige and Davis are essentially at William’s whim and there really isn’t anything they can do about it. They’ve become technological hostages. At one point, Lily asks Henry if he’s made a kill switch for William, to which he replies, ‘No, I didn’t think I would need one.’ Such is the folly of mankind and believing we’re always in control and nothing bad will ever happen.

I do want to make a note that Andrew’s novels were on the list of books stolen through the online AI debacle. Not only is that reprehensible and disgusting, but within this novel, he seemingly addresses that, when he discusses how William continues to develop and expand on its own volition and Henry has no idea how or why that is happening. It’s because we’ve fed the machine and now the machine continues to take and take and take.

What I didn’t like: Ok, if you’ve somehow gotten this far, you’ll be surprised to discover I hated this novel. HAAA! Just kidding, trying to test you, as you’ve probably fallen asleep. But, as for what I didn’t like, there were a few minor things I noted, but there’s always a reason for them.

First – the main twist. That’s all I can say. Andrew does a wonderful job of hiding it, but I saw it early on and if you do see it early on, it does dampen the reveal later. Saying that, if you do see it early on, it kind of makes what Henry goes through, throughout, all that much more heartbreaking.

Second – expansion. I know Andrew was wanting to keep this one short and sweet, but there’s a few things I wished we would’ve learned more about. There’s a scene where an old man comes walking by while Lily and Paige are outside, and Lily tells him to jog on. It made sense and I think it related to the Covid analogy I’ve theorized, where an old, white, talking head tries to give people advice they don’t want, but it would’ve been great to see more of that. As well, the neighborhood itself. We get some initial descriptions, and the ending expands on it more, but the neighborhood seems very specific, but we don’t really get the why of that. If I’m being metaphorical, I’d assume it relates to Andrew’s real neighborhood and how there were others so close, but so far away, during the pandemic, but I could be wrong. It could also be a discussion point on Toronto itself and the changing landscape of that housing market, but it’s hard to really clamp that down without knowing more.

Lastly, just for fun, if this was a big metaphorical discussion point about Andrew’s real life, I hope to God I wasn’t the William creation, where William continues to talk and suggest things to Henry, until Henry bashes the robot a bunch with a metal bar! Oh dear…

Why you should buy this: A juggernaut of dread, ‘William,’ is an easy, single sitting read where you’ll be rapt the entire time. As always, Andrew’s writing is propulsive, compulsive and can’t-put-down-able. I was hooked from page one and when I wasn’t reading this, I was thinking about it. Andrew’s released some truly remarkable books over his career, but if my deep dive into this is correct (and I know some of it is), Andrew’s taken his writing to yet another level. And once again, the use and adoption of ‘Mason Coile’ make complete sense, in that we can consider this a novel by Mason Coile, written about Andrew Pyper, playing the role of Henry. Got it? Good.

From start to finish, ‘William’ pushes the genre-boundaries while also cementing why Andrew has reshaped the Canadian Literature landscape. A masterpiece by one of the greatest to ever do it, ‘William’ not only fits nicely into the pantheon of Andrew’s bibliography, but, I think at least, shows a chameleon-like rebirth of an author, one that will excite and surprise a lot of new and frequent readers alike.

5/5

Book Review: The World He Once Knew by Micah Castle

Title: The World He Once Knew

Author: Micah Castle

Release date: January 26th, 2024

I can’t recall how long ago, but at some point, Micah and I connected over on Twitter/X and I’ve been keen to see what he was going to release when he teased about a sci-fi/horror novella in the works. I learned more about his writing when he kindly appeared in my 3Q’s author interview series and when ‘The World He Once Knew’ was announced, I was all over it. Sci-fi/horror is such a phenomenal genre. There’s so much the writer can do and there’s always a heavy sense of dread throughout.

Once the cover was revealed and the synopsis shared, I was hooked. Look at this opening line of the synopsis – ‘Jay has been uploaded into a new body to investigate why the transporter ship Candlemass went dark fourteen days ago.’ WHAT!!! Hell yes!

What I liked: So, that line I just shared is EXACTLY what this story is about. In the future, the year 2700, humans are occupying the solar system and ships travel around, delivering everything. Jay had died, but now, new abilities, allow people to buy the souls of previously dead people to upload into robotic devices known as HUSKS, so that they can have them do things, such as what Jay has been hired to do – investigate a ship that mysteriously went dark.

Castle does a great job of setting the stage and giving us a lot of tech background of the ‘how’ without making it overwhelming. We don’t get pages and pages of engineering speech that details everything down to the smallest detail. No, we get a few summary paragraphs that had me completely understanding and away we went.

Once on the ship, Jay soon discovers an odd black sludge that seems to be creeping across the ship. Soon enough, Jay is fighting memories of his past life he shouldn’t have as well as dealing with the final words of the various crew members when he finds their memory cards.

Castle deftly amps up the chaos, confusion and we see Jay mentally spiral as he understands more and more about what is happening. But not everything, which Castle does a great job of keeping close to his chest.

Oh, and did I mention that the story is based around how much oxygen Jay has? Yup. That’s the common element we see often in ‘sci-fi exploration’ stories and that countdown completely ramps up the tension, especially when technical difficulties arise.

The ending was a great sleight-of-hand that did a wonderful job of making me gasp and say ‘son of a bitch’ out loud. That’s all I’ll say about that to ensure we stay spoiler free!

What I didn’t like: Now, I had a BLAST with this one, but I will say, even though Castle does a solid job of bringing us from A to B to C, if you’re looking for a sci-fi/horror story that rewrites the wheel about how the story is told, this might not be for you.

Why you should buy this: If I didn’t have a number of other books on the go, this would’ve been an easy, single sitting read. The writing, the story and the character of Jay specifically, were all compulsively engaging. I wanted to know, I wanted to see and I desperately wanted the reveal to come. Castle had me hooked and this one was great from start to finish.

5/5

Book Review: Temporary Monsters by Ian Rogers

Title: Temporary Monsters

Author: Ian Rogers

Release date: January 1st, 2009

As you’ve probably come to learn if you’ve followed my reviews – I’m horribly slow at reading physical books, but burn through everything else when reading on my Kindle. It’s just the reality of the way my life flows and our collective family schedule, but there’s times when I do my best to read a physical release and such is the case with this one. Not too long ago, I acquired a signed copy of Ian’s stunning collection, ‘Every House is Haunted,’ from him and he kindly sent three chapbooks as well. The other day, while reorganizing some of my signed books, I saw these and decided I needed to get them read, and the only way to do so was to make the effort to pull them from the shelf and have them sit in front of me on the coffee table. Over the course of about a week, I snuck in five or ten minutes randomly to get this one read and boy was it fun!

What I Liked: Ian has created a wonderful world of interconnected novellas that I previously described in my review of ‘Go Fish’ as something like the BPRD meets The X-Files. And this one, featuring Felix Renn was a really great slab of detective/supernatural/noir storytelling.

The Black Lands is a world just beyond ours, where you access it through portals this side tries to keep closed. But that doesn’t always happen and in ‘Temporary Monsters’ we get a glimpse of what happens when that world over there mixes with the world of high-profile drug use.

This is only about 45 pages long and Rogers wastes no time throwing us into the fire. Renn is out for dinner with his wife/soon-to-be-ex-wife, when the ‘next-big-thing’ movie actor comes in. Within minutes, we realize somethings off and suddenly Renn is caught in the mix as they change into a vampire and he must act. But that’s not the end of things. No, we see one of their co-stars change too and it all seemingly leads down the same path, to the same person who supplied them with an illegal substance.

This felt like reading a black and white version of ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit.’ You could practically smell the cologne mixed with cigarette’s and hear the expensive liquor being poured into each glass. The atmosphere was phenomenal and that seems to be a Rogers trademark in his story telling.

The ending was great, giving us a supernatural blast of action and does leave that door open for me.

What I didn’t like: Even knowing this was a chapbook and that it would be over quickly, I still desperately wanted more. Rogers is such a deft and talented storyteller, that once he hooks you, you never want those hooks to come out.

Why you should buy this: So, this seems to be a limited chapbook that was released sometime ago. Currently it looks like you can get the Ebook through Rakuten, so that is the way you may need to go. But as for the book itself, the story within was such a fun ride, making me very excited to dive into the next chapbook, ‘The Ash Angels,’ and see what hijinks Felix gets up to again!

5/5

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/temporary-monsters

Book Review: Ambrosia by Hamelin Bird

Title: Ambrosia

Author: Hamelin Bird

Release date: January 16th, 2024

Huge thanks to Hamelin for sending me a digital copy of this one. And huger thanks to our mutual IG friend who put us in touch. I’m not 100% sure if they want me to mention who it was, so for now, I’ll keep it at that!

When I was dm’d about the prospect of potentially reviewing this one, I jumped to GR and all I had to read was this line in the synopsis – ‘…draws the attention of the Bureau, a fringe government agency formed from the rubble of Projects Monarch and Stargate,’ to know I was 100% onboard. Seriously! Secret fringe agency? The Bureau? Sign me up!

What I liked: Ok, so, the first half of this novel is pretty saccharine, but in the best way possible. I actually loved the attention to detail Bird laid out and the story that got us to what I’ll call ‘the tipping point.

The story follows Travis, a former Navy member, who, much to his chagrin, returns to his mother’s home after she’s passed. They weren’t on the best of terms and from all accounts, she was a hard lady to be around. But, he knows that things need to be done and loose ends tied off. Soon, he finds that the familiar is nice. He reconnects with old friends, cleans up the house some and begins to believe this might be just where he needs to be.

Things begin to subtly shift when he remembers he had an old coin collection that just might be up in the attic. Sure enough, it is, but now it seems to have significantly grown. He doesn’t question it, just begins selling off singular coins and uses some to buy things. Which all leads to a huge moment – he buys a lotto ticket and wins big. Like big big.

It’s from here that Bird really swings for the fences with a massive shift. Throughout, we’ve been getting glimpses of a strange assassin, Drexl, who has a singular job and begrudgingly does it.

Bird sets things up well and when the Bureau arrives and makes itself known, we get a time-spanning story that all leads to Travis having to make a massive decision.

The writing is crisp, propulsive and the characters – no matter where they lay in the story – are all intriguing. Which works well to bring us up to the very end… and push us over the edge.

It was a great ‘cap’ to the story, whether this is a one-off is always up for debate when a plot point is involving a secret elite, but we’ll see.

What I didn’t like: Now, I don’t fully know how much I accepted the ‘tipping point.’ It is VERY hard to say anything about it without full spoiling anything, but I will say, it works, but for this reader, I don’t know how much I bought into the various mechanism of the ‘why.’

Why you should buy this: Is this cosmic horror? Not really, but kind of. Is this portal horror? Not really but kind of? The closest I can think of to compare this would be like The X-Files mixed with Agents of Dreamland but not? Haha! It is a wholly unique approach and storyline which had me captivated and I think will really intrigue and excite a lot of readers.

4/5

Book Review: Recreational Panic: Stories by Sonora Taylor

Title: Recreational Panic: Stories

Author: Sonora Taylor

Release date: March 5th, 2024

**Huge huge thank you to Cemetery Gates Media for sending me a digital ARC of this one!**

Ahhh! This collection was one of my most anticipated releases in 2024 and I’m so excited that CGM kindly sent me a digital ARC of this one! I’ve long been a huge fan of Sonora’s writing and we’ve developed a wonderful friendship over the years. And I can say that freely in this review, because I’m stilled banned from reviewing on Amazon so there’s no worry about my review being flagged lol! Ever since I first read her novel ‘Without Condition’ (and if you haven’t you really should!)

Sonora has shown just how solid of a short story writer she is with numerous anthology appearances and her own collections before. Her 2021 release, ‘Someone to Share My Nightmares’ was phenomenal, but her 2019 release, ‘Little Paranoia’s: Stories’ was EVEN better. The second story in that collection, ‘Weary Bones’ lives rent free to this day in my head and I think it should be considered MUST read by every fan of dark fiction.

Which meant that when this was announced I was excited. And when the Floridian-motel style cover art was shared, I was even more excited. And now, I’ve read it and I have to share – YOU NEED TO READ THIS!!

What I liked: This is packed, PACKED!, I tell you, chock full of short stories, flash fiction and poems. Every single piece is a winner, so I’ll pick a few out that really stuck deeper in my brain than the others.

The opener is ‘Recreational Panic: A Guided Meditation.’ Perfect choice to open the collection with. Think of it like an melodic intro to an album. Short, sweet and though it starts off simple and kind, soon morphs into a grotesque mantra that’ll be something you shouldn’t listen to on repeat.

‘Harvey Carver’ was pristine. A layered story about a town with an urban legend. People say Harvey Carver was a serial killer many years ago, but over the years after he’s gone, his living relatives change their names and try to go on with their lives. But Marla is OBSESSED with Harvey, his story, and just who in the town was related to him. This one spirals quickly out of control and Sonora ended it just so, so perfectly.

‘The Clockmaker’ was a story I’d previously read in an anthology, but I’m so glad it was included here and I loved it just as much this time as I did before. In a small town, a man becomes known for his delicate pieces he makes. When a strange individual enters his shop and requests a specific time piece, a horrible partnership is formed, one that grows more and more horrible as time goes on. Just wow. What an amazing story.

‘Little Dirty Birdy Feet’ was hysterically brutal. An abusive brother forces his younger sister into the woods. He won’t say why exactly, just wants to shoot some wildlife and ‘have fun.’ But when he starts to sing an old children’s rhyme, he unwittingly calls forth an ancient evil and his sister has to decide what side she’s on. This was so much fun and a really great take on folklore.

‘Knee-Deep’ was another fun one. A short dose of sleight-of-hand, this one focuses on a woman who wants a man to get into the Christmas spirit. Taylor must’ve written this at 3am with a massive grin on her face, because this was just a fun time.

‘Keepers of the Light’ was a really creepy one. Perhaps the creepiest story in the entire collection actually. This one is set around an old lighthouse and how it seemingly calls for a specific person to come to it. The pacing on this one was spot on and from the very beginning the reader will feel unsettled.

Throughout, Sonora manages to quickly pull the reader into each story and have them engaged immediately, which is always key, especially when it comes to some of the flash fiction pieces.

What I didn’t like: As with every collection, readers will connect with each piece differently, and that’s fine. In this case, I either really liked or loved every one and the poems were textured and well done.

Why you should buy this: If Sonora’s not a ‘must-buy/must-read’ author for you yet, you need to fix that ASAP. Her writing is powerful, evocative and is always unflinching. No matter what the subject matter is, she’ll find a unique way to ‘Taylorize’ it and in doing so elevates the idea even more.

What started out as one of my ‘Most-Anticipated’ releases of 2024 now slots itself onto my list of ‘Best Of 2024’ and I’m excited to see this one launch into the world!

5/5

Book Review: The Adleparmeun by Kelvin V. A. Allison and Megan Stockton

Title: The Adleparmeun

Authors: Kelvin V.A. Allison and Megan Stockton

Release date: January 31st, 2024

When Kelvin and Megan announced this co-authored project, I was very intrigued. The gist of the novella is that there’s an apartment building in remote Alaska where all of the monsters of the world reside. Away from mankind, they live in ‘peace’ and to make things even more intriguing for the reader, each ‘chapter’ is a short story, based on each of the individual apartments. I’ve previously read ‘The Trouble with Rabbits’ from Allison, which I enjoyed quite a lot, but I think I’ve only read a few short stories from Stockton, but possibly not? I looked through the various anthologies listed on Goodreads she’s appeared in, but it didn’t appear as though I’d read them. Saying that, I could swear I’ve read some of her stories! Oh well! I have read something from her now!

What I liked: Now, the word Adleparmeun had my ears pick up. I’d heard it somewhere before, and couldn’t remember where. Then it dinged somewhere in my massive head. While researching locations, stories and myths for my own novel, ‘Churn the Soil,’ I remembered reading something about it. I found the link (https://ethicsofsuicide.lib.utah.edu/tradition/indigenous-cultures/arctic-cultures/eskimo-of-baffin-island/) which had this description;

“My people think this way: Kood-le-par-mi-ung (heaven) is upward. Every body happy there. All the time light; no snow, no ice, no storms; always pleasant; no trouble; never tried; sing and play all the time—all this continue with out end.

“Ad-le-par-me-un (hell) is downward. Always dark there. No sun; trouble there continually; snow flying all the time; terrible storms; cold, very cold; and a great deal of ice there. All who go there must always remain.

“All Innuits who have been good go to Koodleparmiung; that is, who have been kind to the poor and hungry—all who have been happy while living on this earth. Any one who has been killed by accident, or who has committed suicide, certainly goes to the happy place.

“All Innuits who have been bad—that is, unkind one to another—all who have been unhappy while on this earth, will go to Adleparmeun. If an Innuit kill another because he is mad at him, he certainly will go to Adleparmeun.” This was taken from Captain Charles Francis Hall, ‘Life with the Eskimaux,’ (Expedition 1860-1862) (London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 1865). I’d thought it intriguing, because at one point, I’d considered ‘Churn the Soil’ as an allegorical tale of good versus evil, but ultimately switched it to a story about the people versus the land and new versus old.

But, getting back to this release, once that clicked together I was very intrigued and when taken as a shallow read, each story is just that – a fun little slab of horror. But when you dive into it deeper, each story is a revelatory discussion on where each of these monsters fit.

The story itself is held together by an over-arching premise of a few guards kind of keeping the creatures within, though as expected things don’t always go to plan.

Stockton and Allison write sublimely together. I honestly couldn’t tell you if they each wrote X number of stories or if they wrote them together as there’s no jarring shift between room stories and nothing stood out saying ‘AH HA! THAT WAS CLEARLY STOCKTON!’ which was wonderful to find. There isn’t an afterword or author’s note at the end either, so they kept the workload close to their hearts.

Throughout, we get a variety of characters who are all instantly characters you gravitate towards. I’m actually not going to single any of them out, purely because if you’re reading this, I want you to discover the joy of each as well as the layered complexities these two have so proficiently created here.

There is an ‘ending’ but honestly, with the way this one is structured and the narrative that started on page one and ended on page 125ish, there is ample room to expand, continue on or move to a different site.

What I didn’t like: As with any ‘collection’ (and I’m using this term VERY loosely simply for my observation here) some of the stories within each rooms, readers may or may not enjoy. I personally really dug each one and there seems to be a number of subtle Easter eggs throughout, which you’d expect based on a singular release revolving around a singular building.

Additionally, I did wish we got a tiny bit more info on the ‘why’ of this building etc. etc. But maybe we will in the future?

Why you should buy this: The complete package and completion of this work together is top notch. These two authors worked so cohesively together on a truly compulsive story idea that I raced through this. The characters within all could be pulled out and expanded upon, as could the location and the lore of the why and how.

Allison and Stockton hit this one out of the park and I truly hope they decide to return to this world again, no matter what ‘this world’ means to that new story.

5/5